I read this years ago but it’s occurred to me lately that I might enjoy rereading some of my favorites. So then came October and I love reading holiday books from now until the first week in January. I prefer holiday mysteries, but a horror for Halloween is fine.   Checking my blog I see that I’ve read it 3 times with the last time being over a decade ago.  Oh well.  

We Have Always Lived in the Castle 
By Shirley Jackson 
1963 
Read by Bernadette Duane 5h 32m
Rating: 10 / classic horror novella 

And then (!) Novellas in November was announced on more than one blog site – sooooo….. lol. I’ve read a lot of novellas this year and they and a couple more could stand a rereads.

To me, if a novella is good it is VERY good! The thing is the themes and characters are not all spread out across 400 pages, they’re condensed into 200 pages or fewer. So I have to read a bit more slowly and carefully and they often deserve a reread or two.

Anyway, with We Have Always Lived in the Castle, I remembered the basics of the story, but there were still some important “details” I’d forgotten (or never really caught the meaning of). After I finished this time I checked online for various reviews and analyses. I’ve never done that with this book.  Interesting to fine that mine aren’t the only ideas to have – lol.

Reading a 3rd time or more means what I’m really doing is studying the book. My 1st reading is usually for the basic plot and some characterizations. The 2nd time is for better appreciation of the literary value, but not usually getting too specific. And the  3rd time I generally focus more on one aspect, like “What happened to the ball in Underworld by Don DeLillo? – or “Who is Hazel?” in Pale Fire by Nabokov? – With We Have Always Lived in the Castle it was really just “What happened and why is this a classic?” because it had been so long since my prior read.   Fwiw, I had to read Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses twice just to figure out what happened – back to back readings, fwiw.  (That’s a GOOD book.) 

Anyway – if you’re interested see these excellent discussions of the book or aspects of it.  

Literary Ladies Guide – (basic analysis)
https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/literary-analyses/analysis-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle/

The Ultimate Guide to We Have Always Lived in the Castle – (intermediate – themes, devices, psychologies) 
https://www.lindseyenglishtutoring.com/vce-resources/an-ultimate-guide-to-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle

Flavorwire Author Club: Shirley Jackson’s Haunting Final Novel, ‘We Have Always Lived in the Castle’ (focus on women characters): 
https://www.flavorwire.com/447850/flavorwire-author-club-shirley-jacksons-haunting-final-novel-we-have-always-lived-in-the-castle